Wilbur Daniel Steele (17 March 1886,

Greensboro Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina, af ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

– 26 May 1970, Stamford,

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

) was a U.S. author and playwright. He has been called "America's recognised master of the popular short story" between

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

.Martin Bucco, 'Steele, Wilbur Daniel', in ''20th Century American Literature'', Macmillan, 1980, pp. 550–552. His short stories are set in American locations and are often highly dramatic. Collections of his stories include ''The Man Who Saw through Heaven'' (1927), ''Best Stories'' (1946), and ''Full Cargo'' (1951). He also wrote novels, including ''Taboo'' (1925), ''That Girl from Memphis'' (1945), and ''Their Town'' (1952). His second wife was actress Norma Mitchell, with whom he co-wrote the play ''The Post Road''.

Works

Novels

* ''Storm'' (1914) * ''Isles of the Blest'' (1924) * ''Taboo'' (1925) * ''Meat'' (1928) Republished as ''The Third Generation'' (1929) * ''Undertow'' (1930) * ''Sound of Rowlocks'' (1938) * ''That Girl from Memphis'' (1945) * ''Diamond Wedding'' (1950) * ''Their Town'' (1952) * ''The Way to the Gold'' (1955)

Short story collections

* ''Land's End and Other Stories'' (1918) * ''The Shame Dance and Other Stories'' (1923) * ''Urkey Island'' (1926) * ''The Man Who Saw Through Heaven and Other Stories'' (1927) * ''Tower of Sand and Other Stories'' (1929) * ''The Best Stories of Wilbur Daniel Steele'' (1945) * ''Full Cargo: More Stories'' (1951)

Plays

* ''Contemporaries'', produced 1915. * ''Not Smart'', produced 1916. * ''The Giants' Stair'', produced 1924. * ''The Terrible Woman and Other One Act Plays'', 1925. Also includes ''Not Smart'', ''Ropes''. * (with Norma Mitchell) ''Any Woman'', produced in August 1934 for one-week run. * (with Norma Mitchell) '' Post Road'', produced 1934; printed 1935. * (with Anthony Brown) ''How Beautiful with Shoes'', produced 1935. From the story by Steele. * ''Luck'', in

William Kozlenko William Kozlenko was a playwright, screenwriter, and editor of multiple stage-play compilations and anthologies, as well as being a founding editor of ''One-Act Play Magazine'', which published from 1937–1942,

(ed.) ''One Hundred Nonroyalty Plays'', 1941.

Short stories

References

Steele Profile

External links

* * * * *
Wilbur Daniel Steele Papers
housed at

Stanford University Libraries The Stanford University Libraries (SUL), formerly known as "Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Resources" ("SULAIR"), is the library system of Stanford University in California. It encompasses more than 24 libraries in all. S ...

1886 births 1970 deaths Writers from Greensboro, North Carolina American male short story writers American male novelists O. Henry Award winners 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights American male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers Novelists from North Carolina Long stubs with short prose {{US-playwright-stub